BOSTON -- Digital Art Exchange, Inc. (DAX), the first managed Internet and application service provider for the graphic communications industry, today announced the addition of the DAX iSeries VPN to its managed Internet solutions. The new product addition targets growing companies that want the best possible security and performance available in an Internet solution, provided at a low, fixed monthly cost. The DAX VPN solution combines all the benefits of private network solutions, which include security and performance, with all of the features of a robust, Tier-1 Internet connection. When not connecting to other secure sites, DAX VPN customers use the VPN as a standard, high performance Internet connection, receiving email, web applications and ubiquitous connectivity to hundreds of millions of sites worldwide, all with a flat rate, budgetable monthly fee. Target Market... The solution can be used to connect service providers (such as printing companies and trade shops) to their security-conscious customers (i.e. financial and pharmaceutical companies), and between multiple sites of an individual company (i.e. multi-site printing companies). How it works... The VPN delivers security by using encryption provided by the Internet standard IPSEC protocol featuring Triple-DES encryption, the highest and most secure encryption protocol available for use in the United States today. Multiple sites can be connected in a secure, fully-meshed topology, with the additional benefit of secure connectivity to the DAX Data Center, for secure access to DAX applications like ManagedFTP, Digital Asset Management and DAXProof for collaboration and softproofing. The DAX iSeries VPN solution is provided using NetScreen Technologies equipment, which offers record-breaking wire-speed performance previously available only by using equipment that cost tens of thousands of dollars and that was extremely complicated to install and configure. The NetScreen Technologies equipment is configured and supported by the DAX engineering staff as part of the iSeries managed Internet solutions. Insider Feedback... "As recently as a last year, VPN solutions were expensive, complicated and slow," said Brad Giles, President of DAX. "Our team has done a tremendous amount of research and engineering, working with NetScreen Technologies, to create a suite of solutions that is both ideally suited for the high performance needs of the graphic communications industry, and is at the same time affordable." "DAX customers require high performance Internet solutions, both for mission critical applications and for large file transfers," said Robert Thomas, president and CEO of NetScreen Technologies. "DAX is extending the limits of Internet use by enabling customers to send large files and work under tight deadlines, while also dealing with security issues. Since NetScreen's products eliminate the barriers, while still implementing the highest level of security, DAX can offer a VPN solution that is ideally suited for the graphic communications marketplace." Users in the field... The first large user of the DAX iSeries VPN solution is the Premedia Technologies Group of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, which is using the solution at multiple internal and customer sites. File deliveries and interaction with the R.R. Donnelley Image Merchant(tm) Digital Asset Management system take place over the secure, encrypted link provided by the DAX iSeries VPN. "We need to provide our customers with network solutions that are tailored to meet their needs, " said Lee Webster, product manager of Premedia Technologies Group. "When a virtual private network is the right solution, the Internet-based VPN from DAX gives both R.R. Donnelley and the customer the performance and the security we need. The DAX technical services team are experts in the graphic communications industry and were able to configure the network seamlessly, providing us with a completely smooth implementation of this new network."